Machine for curling hat-brims.



S. J. MILLER. MAGHINE FOR GURLING HAT BRIMS. APPLICATION FILED DEO.11, 1913.

1, 1 00,899. Patented June 23, 1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

50 ,5 40 940 55 42 44 m P. 5] 53 62 Q, 1 .55 45 5 f i a l T V/VMWVENTOR 'Sie Jhen J 771271671 S. J. MILLER. MACHINE FOR GURLING HAT BRIMS. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 11, 1913.

1,100,899, Patented June 23, 1914.

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m 3 o 43% Q 7 15 15 26 4 .5? C H H 22 g 452 37 z, 20 4 III] 31 27 2s 40 E 3 a g 62 L 29 E 4 b 7 7 /43? a *3 K o E 156.553930 2 [/3 2 5 10 J1 w 22 9/ g INVENTOR Siephen 11777172671 ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

S. J. MILLER. MACHINE FOR OURLING HAT BRIMS. APPLIOATION FILED DEO.11, 191s.

Patented June 23, 1914.

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' INVENTOR Siej Jhen 777 27187? ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN J'. MILLER, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR CUBLING HAT-BRIMS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STEPHEN J. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Danbury, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Curling Hat-Brims; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the art of curling hat brims, wherein it is advantageous to have the curled portion of the brim quite rigid and at the same time smoothly ironed, the brim being suitably and automatically guided and fed to the devices which operate on the brim to produce the results aimed at.

The object of my present invention is not only to curl the brims themselves but at the same time to felt them very closely by a beating process so that the completed brim will be very stiff at the curled portion, and with these ends in view my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully set forth and then particularly pointed out in the claims which conclude this description.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine which I have invented for carrying out my improveiient-Fig. 2 aside elevation of the same partly in sectionFig. 3 a front elevation Fig. 4L a section at the line as, w, of Fig. 1 Fig. 5 a detail plan view of the combined curling and beating tool showing the segments closedFig. 6 a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the segments in the position assumed during the curling and heating process, and Fig. 7 is adetail view of the guiding device.

Similar numerals of reference denote like parts in the several figures of the drawing.

My present invention is an improvement on the machine shown and described in Let-- ters Patent No. 1,060,275, issued to me April 29, 1913, the structure which I employ for carrying out the present invention bearing a marked resemblance to the machine illustrated in said patent, except in so far as the actual curling devices and the parts imme diately associated therewith are concerned, and these differences of construction will be apparent from the following description.

1 is the bed of the machine to the bottom surface of which is secured a hanger 2 which Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 11, 1913.

Patented June 23, 1314:.

Serial No. 805,953.

carries a bearing 3 within which the power shaft 4 is journaled, at the outer extremity of which shaft are loose and tight pulleys 5, 6. On the inner end of the power shaft is a pinion 7 which meshes with a spur gear wheel 8 which latter carries a concentric bevel pinion 9 that is in mesh with a bevel gear wheel'iO which latter is rigid on a vertical shaft 11 that is journaled within a bracket 12 depending from the bed 1. This vertical shaft 11 extends above the bed and carries an active feed roll 13, and it will therefore be clear that as the power shaft revolves, this roll 13 will likewise be re volved through the medium of the pinion 7, spur gear wheel 8, bevel pinion 9 and large bevel gear 10.

A support 14: is secured upon the bed 1, and mounted on this support is a slide 15 having an elongated slot 16 whose side walls embrace a guide rib 17 extending upwardly from said support, a cover plate 18 being secured on top of said rib in order to confine the slide in position. J ournaled at the inner end of this slide, and depending therefrom in close proximity to the feed roll 13 is a second feed roll 19.

20, 21, are intermeshing spur gears carried respectively by the rolls 13 and 19, so that these rolls will revolve together and thereby facilitate the passage of a hat brim therebetween.

22 is a lever pivoted to a bracket 23 se cured to the bed and having its upper extremity normally bearing against a lug24 which depends from the outer end of the slide 15, while the inner end of said lever is loosely connected with a treadle rod 25, and in this connection I would say that I have illustrated no treadle since the same is of ordinary construction and forms no part of my present invention.

Extending inwardly from the lug 2 1 is a stud 26, and extending outwardly from the end of the support 14 is another stud 27, which studs extend within the ends of acoil spring 28, so that it will be clear that when the upper extremity of the lever 22 is forced inwardly the slide will be moved to separate the rolls 13, 19, the spring 28 being compressed by this movement of the slide, while the inward movement of the upper end of the lever 22 is brought about by the downward pull of the tread e rod 25; when this treadle rod is released the spring 28 will operate to return the parts, including the roll 19, to normal position. The separation of the roll 19 from the roll 13 makes it eomparatively easy to initially introduce a hat brim between the rolls, and as such brim is fed therebetween a spring pressure Will be exerted on the same by the roll 19, and it will therefore be understood that the hat brim is not clamped between the rolls 13 and 19 with a dead or unyielding pressure.

523 is a plate secured to the bed 1 and lnivine' formed integral therewith a vertically disposed guide plate 30, and 81 is a lever pivoted to the outer end of this plate Th f d f this lever 31 terminates in the downwardly extending open hook portion 32, and said lever is normally elcvatcd by means of a spring 33 which bears against the bottom edge of the forward Or free end of said lever.

is a. lug which extends from the upper edge of the inner portion of the guide plate 30 and overhangs a little t0e35 that ex tends laterally from the lever 31, and through this lug 34 a thumb screw 36 is driven downwardly against the toe so as to force the lever 31 downwardly against the resiliency of the spring 33; when the thumb screw is relaxed the spring will force this lever upwardly, this movement of the leve 31, by the combined action of the thumb screw and spring, being necessary in order to adjust the normal position of the book 32 for the purpose presently to be explained. A block 6 extends from the lever 31 within an elongated slot 0 in the guide plate 30 for the purpose of stcadying the movements of said lever.

The depth of the curled portions of some hat briins is greater than the depth of the corresponding portions in other hat brims and it therefore becomes quite essential to provide for this and to introduce between the feed rollsonly that portion of thehat brim i which is to be curled. The open hook 32 is adjacent to the feed rolls 13 and 19, and a relaxation of the thumb screw 36 will cause.

the open hook to rise upwardl and to thereby provide for a deeper curl, while the lowering of this hook by means of the ac-. tion of the thumb screw will provide for a.

shallower or narrower curl.

The parts heretofore described are not,

necessarily identified with my invention except in so far as they exemplify a preferred structure and arrangement for the purpose of introducing the hat brim to the devices which actively operate to effect the curling,

and therefore, although I have set forth somewhat fully the construction of these parts and their operative arrangement, it is to be understood that, the machine as heretofore described may be varied in details without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The elements and constructions immediately identified with the curling operation will now be described.

3-? is the curling shackle which is se cured to the bed of the machine and is adapted to be heated in any suitable manner, for instance, by a gas flame directed by a pipe 38 against the shackle. This shackle 37 is hollow at its interior so as to provide a suitable channel 39 for the hat brim, and is curved to correspond with the curvature of said brim and to coaet with th curling tool presently to be described.

i0 is a standard rising from the bed of the machine and secured thereto, and. to the outer end of this standard at 11 is pivoted a frame which extends through a housing $3 at the inner part of the standard in such manner that the frame is capable of a vertical. play swinging from its pivotal point all, which play limited by means of a screw 1 1 and lock nut 45 driven through the top of the inner part of the standard against the frame. When the screw is backed the frame is capable of a greater vertical play and when the screw is driven downwardly such vertical lay is limited. A. coil spring 46 is housed within the upper edge of th standard &0 and presses against the bottom edge of the fram 4-2, and. serves to normally elevate such frame, so that any depression of the latter is effected against the resiliency of the spring. it will thus be understood that the frame a2 has a resilient action, the object of which will. be presently explained.

The front of the frame 4:2 has an offset portion 4'? which supports an integral vertically disposed sleeve 48 which sleeve eX- tends in a plane at right angles to the plane the upper portion of the frame. The upper part of the frame 4-2 carries a horizontally disposed shaft 49 which is journaled within the front and rear portions of this frame; the inner end of this shaft carries a bevel pinion 50 while the outer end of such shaft carries a spur pinion 51 which latter meshes with a large spur gear wheel 52 that is carried by the power shaft 4 whereby power is communicated from the power shaft to the horizontally disposed shaft 4-9 that is journaled within the pivoted frame 412,

Suitably journaled so as to be supported within the vertical sleeve 41-8 is the vertical shaft 53 which carries at its upper end the bevel pinion 5-1, which meshes directly with the bevel pinion 50 so that it will be clear that the shaft will be revolved at a high rate of speed through the medium of the large spur gear 52, the spur pinion 51, and the bevel gears 50, 54, while at the same time the frame 42 and all the parts carried there by are capable of a simultaneous vertical resilient movement.

The lower extremity of the shaft 53 carries the curling tool which latter is a special and very important feature of my invention. This curling tool is supported on a horizontal platform 55 that is rigid with the lower end of the shaft 53, and such tool is composed of two independent parts that are segments of a disk. These segments are preferably alike, one of such segments 56 being pivoted near one end at 57 to the platform 5, and therefore capable of an outward swinging movement from such pivotal point, while the other of such segments 58 is pivoted at 59 at an end that is remote from the pivoted end of the segment 56, and therefore capable of swinging outwardly from the pivotal point. In order to limit the inward and outward movements of these segments, I provide small pins 60, 61, which extend upwardly from the platform 55 within comparatively large openings 62, 63, formed in the segments themselves, and it will therefore be understood that the outward throw or swing of these segments as well as the inward swing or movement thereof will be arrested in the manner illustrated at Fig. 6. These segments constitute complementary portions of a curling disk, and they extend within the hollow portion of the shackle, and, during the revolution of the shaft 53 these segments throughout their area are revolved most rapidly and in proximity to the inner wall of the hollowed out portion of the shackle, but are separated from such wall in their closed condition by a space sufiicient to accommodate the brim to be curled.

The hatbrim a is fed and delivered by the rolls 13, 19, within the shackle 87 and between the inner wall of the latter and the curling tool that is made up of these segments 56, 58, and the vertical resilient play of the frame 42 will cause the hat brim to be embraced between the curling tool and the inner wall of the shackle with a yielding pressure, so that brims of different thicknesses will be readily accommodated and there will be no dead or unyielding biting of the hat brim between the curling elements.

' As the machine operates, the segments 56, 58, as they are revolved out of contact with the hat brim, will be thrown outwardly by centrifugal force, and on their continued revolution will successively beat against that portion of the brim that is undergoing the curling process, and as soon as a segment has performed this beating operation it will be forced into a closed position by contact with the hat, and will thereafter perform the ironing or curling operation until it again leaves the hat, and these beating and ironing operations continue with great rapidity until the curling of the entire brim is effected. This beating of the hat brim causes the fur fibers to knit exceedingly close so that the brim will be felted very hard, whereby the curled portion will be very stiff and will thereafter hold its shape far better than it would if subjected to the ordinary curling operation.

It will of course be apparent that the curling tool could be sub-divided into three or more pivoted segments which would be thrown outwardly by centrifugal force and would beat against the hat in the manner heretofore described, and which would be complementary portions of a curling disk so that in closed position they would perform the ironing or curling operation, and it is likewise apparent that the beating and curling operation would be effected, after a fashion, if one of these segments were omitted, and I therefore do not wish to be limited in these respects.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle suitably shaped, and a curling tool which consists of a rotary element which cooperates with said shackle to curl and iron the hat brim, said element being capable of displacement by centrifugal force.

2. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle suitably shaped, means for heating the shackle, means for guiding the hat brims into said shackle, and a rotary curling tool having independent movable portions for beating and shaping the brim. V

3. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle suitably shaped, means for heating the shackle, means for guiding the hat brims into said shackle, a curling tool consisting of independent pivoted segments of suitable contours, and means for rapidly rotating said tool whereby said segments are thrown outwardly by centrifugal force and caused to beat against the hat brim.

4:. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle suitably shaped, means for heating the shackle, means for guiding the hat brims into said shackle, a curling tool composed of independently pivoted segments that are complementary of a disk of suitable contour, and means for rapidly revolving said tool whereby said segments are thrown outwardly and caused to first beat against the hat brim and then to iron the same against the shackle.

5. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle suitably shaped, means for heating the shackle, means for guiding the hat brims into said shackle, a vertically disposed rotary shaft, means for rapidly revolving said shaft, a platform carried by said shaft, a curling tool consisting of independent segments of suitable contour pivoted to said platform, and cooperating parts carried by said platform and segments for limiting the movements of the latter.

6. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle suitably shaped, means for heating the shackle, means for guiding the hat brims into said shackle, a pivoted resilient frame, a vertical shaft journaled in said frame and carrying at its lower end a platform, and a curling tool consisting of independent seg ments of suitable contour and pivoted to said platform, and cooperating parts carried by said platform and segments for limiting the movements of the latter.

7 A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle suitably shaped, means for heating the shackle, means for guiding the hat brims into said shackle, and a resiliently acting. curling tool which consists of a rapidly revolving rotary element that cooperates with said shackle to curl and iron the hat brim, said element being capable of displacement by centrifugal force.

.8. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle provided with a brim channel, a resilient frame pivoted to a stationary part of the machine, a vertical shaft journaled in the free end of said frame, and a curling tool carried by the lower end of said shaft and extending within said channel and capable of displacement by centrifugal force between prescribed limits.

9. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle provided with a brim channel, a curling tool extending within said channel and consisting of two complementary segments of a disk each segment pivoted to a rotary platform at diametrically opposite points, cooperating stop elements for limiting the movements of said segments in either di-- rection around their pivotal points, and means for rapidly revolving said platform.

10. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle provided with a brim channel, a resiliently yielding curling tool extending within said shackle and consisting of a plu rality of pivoted independently operating and centrifugally displaced complementary elements, and means for revolving said tool whereby said elements when distended Will perform beating operations against the hat brim and will thereafter close when in contact with the hat and cooperate with the shackle to curl the hat brim.

11. In a hat brim curler, the combination of the stationary feed roll, the support having a guide rib extending therefrom, the slide mounted on said support and provided with an elongated slot through which said rib extends, the adjustable feed roll jour-. naled at the end of said slide, the spring confined between said support and slide, and the treadle controlled lever acting against the outer end of said slide to separate the feed rolls.

12. A hat brim curler, comprising a shackle provided with a brim channel, means for heating said shackle, a resilient frame pivoted to a stationary part of the machine, a vertical shaft journaled in the free end of said frame and carrying a platform at its lower end, curling tool segments pivota ly supported on said platform and capatie of displacement by centrifugal force between prescribed limits, and means carried by the resilient pivoted frame and operated b gear connection with the power shaft for rapidly revolving said segments whereby the latter will be caused to beat against the hat and to cooperate with the shackle in ironing and curling said hat.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

STEPHEN J. MILLER.

Witnesses:

E. ROLAND CRorUT, Amos B. MEAD, Jr.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

